How to Improve Outcomes in Attachment Work

Through Greater Embodiment of Emotions

Attachment patterns formed in childhood persist into adulthood as “internal working models” not only in the brain but also in the rest of the body. They endure as implicit memory patterns of sensorimotor affect states such as attraction and aversion, states that can only be accessed or worked with in the body.

How does the ISP Professional Training complement Attachment Work?

Integral Somatic Psychology™ (ISP™) can help improve the effectiveness of all those who work with attachment difficulties in their clients in a number of ways. ISP, through the use of a) the science of the physiology of emotions and attachment in the brain from academic research, b) the science of the physiology of emotions and attachment in the body from body psychotherapy traditions, and c) the science of biological regulation from medicine can create a greater capacity in clients to access, process, and complete unconscious, early, and archaic attachment patterns in the body with greater efficiency. Integral Somatic Psychology (ISP), in addition, offers ways of working with attachment patterns in the deeper energy body of an individual from Eastern energy psychology traditions.

Explore the ISP Professional Training.

ISP was a very helpful addition to my training in Somatic Experiencing. The emphasis on the bodily experience of emotions and how to work with them—recognize, experience deeply, and manage/regulate—was invaluable for my professional and personal growth.

Kenneth Talan, MD, SEP, Child and Adult Psychiatrist

Having been interested in affect theory for many years, I found Raja’s approach spot on in terms of redirecting attention to affect (rather than sensation) and connecting it to the whole body. This helped me understand why I was sometimes frustrated with SE™. On a personal level, I found the “hands-on” experience very valuable and meaningful, both as a patient and as a therapist.

Ruth Shidlo, PhD, SEP